


In the Interim

by PhantomFlutist



Series: Eternal Lands!AU [2]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Drabble Collection, Fluff, M/M, eternal lands au, i started playing this game again and had feels okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2018-10-17 17:31:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10598778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhantomFlutist/pseuds/PhantomFlutist
Summary: Between duty and love, between one breath and the next, Hongbin learns to live again.





	1. Who are you

**Author's Note:**

> So I made Hongbin a character in [this game](http://www.eternal-lands.com/), and it was only a matter of time until shenanigans ensued. I have a lot of feels about this universe, okay?
> 
> There will be more of these, and they can all (probably?) be read alone. So if the original fic in this series was triggering for you, you can likely read this one and be fine. I'll put warnings on individual chapters if they apply. But this first one is just cute and kind of funny, so you should be fine!

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/60055131@N03/33593131460/in/dateposted-public/)

* * *

 

 

“So this one time,” Hongbin says, “I was sitting at the sulfur deposit in Crystal Caverns and this guy shows up, sits down next to me, and starts holding my hand.”

Wonshik snorts against his chest. They’re curled up together in their little bed, safe and cozy inside their house in Portland. Rain patters against the roof and a fire crackles in the hearth and Hongbin is warm and content and happy. “Did you know him?” Wonshik asks.

“I’d never seen him before in my life. Granted, I was pretty new still at the time, but I recognized a lot of the people that hung out in the same places I did and he was not one of them,” Hongbin says. He runs his fingers through the loose strands of Wonshik’s long blond hair.

“What did you do?”

Hongbin shakes his head, remembering, “I was like, ‘um, hey.’ And he didn’t respond. So I sort of waited, hoping that he’d realize what he was doing and let go.”

“Did he?” Wonshik murmurs. There’s laughter in his voice.

“No,” Hongbin responds. “Eventually I just went, ‘okay well I have to go now’ and got up and ran.”

Wonshik’s shoulders shake. He buries his head kind of under Hongbin’s armpit and starts making noises like a puma choking on a hairball.

“Stop,” Hongbin whines. “Seriously, Wonshik, stop laughing. It’s not funny.” He pushes at his lover’s arm, which only causes him to roll over and finally let his laughter out, bright and loud. The sound always sends a little thrill through Hongbin, even when he’s kind of angry.

“It’s _so_ funny,” Wonshik insists. “I’m telling this to the entire guild later.”

Hongbin hits him in the solar plexus, hard. “You will not,” he declares while Wonshik groans.

Taking both of Hongbin’s hands in his, probably to avoid getting hit again, Wonshik says, “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. I won’t tell them.”

Hongbin settles, still grumbling, back into Wonshik’s arms. He rests his own head on Wonshik’s chest this time and heaves a deep sigh. “You’d better not,” he warns.

Wonshik nods with his cheek pressed to the top of Hongbin’s head. “I promise.”

“I love you, you jerk,” Hongbin mumbles.

Wonshik chuckles and presses a kiss to Hongbin’s hair. “Love you too, you prickly bastard.”

 


	2. Swamp Candles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post anything last week! Real life has been kicking my butt. But have some cute RaBin to make up for it?
> 
> **Chapter Warnings:** references to character death (in a universe where death is impermanent), very very vague references to suicide

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/60055131@N03/34176157741/in/dateposted-public/)

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/60055131@N03/33922858850/in/dateposted-public/)

* * *

  

 

Wonshik sits on the edge of the bed, lacing up his boots. “What are you up to today?” he asks.

Hongbin turns away from the fire he’s been watching as he gets dressed, and says, “Flower shop for Swamp Candles, and then I’m going to make Earth Essence.”

Wonshik blinks at him, runs a hand through his still-loose hair and says, “Couldn’t you just harvest those yourself?”

“I don’t harvest Swamp Candles,” Hongbin says. He sees the disbelieving look on his lover’s face and knows that he’s just going to ask again, and so he adds, “They have it out for me.”

Blinking harder, with his hair half in his face so that he looks unbearably young, Wonshik says, “What.”

Hongbin walks over and leans down to press a kiss to Wonshik’s mouth. “I know you don’t really understand, because the things that you work with are alive and actively trying to kill you, but I really swear, the Swamp Candles want me to die.”

“Please explain,” Wonshik mumbles, humoring Hongbin. He puts his hands on Hongbin’s hips and his fingers trail up under the hem of Hongbin’s doublet.

Hongbin slides forward, plants his knees on the mattress to either side of Wonshik’s hips, and begins, “It was maybe my second big batch of Earth Essence ever? And I thought, ‘no big deal, I’m just gonna harvest a couple thousand Swamp Candles for this. I harvest flowers all the time.’ I was wrong. Three minutes in Mother Nature broke my fucking harvester medallion, and even after I replaced it apparently she still wasn’t satisfied.”

“What happened?” Wonshik asks, his hands sliding up farther, pressing against the bare skin of Hongbin’s back beneath his shirt.

“Three bee stings in five minutes, and a hit from Mother Nature herself. I had to go back to storage for a health potion.” His hips slide into place in Wonshik’s lap and he presses little butterfly kisses to the swell of Wonshik’s cheekbones.

Wonshik mumbles, “Damn,” but his attention is clearly wandering elsewhere, his body slowly responding to Hongbin’s ministrations.

“And then ten minutes later I took another hit and I found myself in the underworld.”

Wonshik goes suddenly very still, and Hongbin knows the facial expression that says that his blood has just run cold. “What?”

“I dropped my hat, my excavator cape, and the physique removal stone that I’d literally just found. It was a long, embarrassing trek back from IP.”

“Fuck, Hongbin,” Wonshik pushes him back, stopping the kisses, the soothing caresses. “You know how I feel about this, you can’t just say shit like that.”

Hongbin shrugs, tries to make it out like it’s not a big deal. He knows it is, knows how sensitive Wonshik is when it comes to this topic. “It wasn’t on purpose,” he murmurs, putting his hands in Wonshik’s hair and massaging his scalp. “I died a lot when I was first starting out. It’s just the way this works. It’s not a big deal.”

“It is when it’s you,” Wonshik says. He tugs Hongbin close until he’s tucked into Wonshik’s chest, cradled tightly like he’s the smaller one in this relationship.

“I’m just fine,” Hongbin tells him, and presses a kiss to Wonshik’s pulse point.

“I know. It’s when I can’t see you that I worry,” Wonshik replies.

Hongbin sighs and snuggles further into Wonshik’s embrace. “So I guess we’re staying in today?”

Wonshik only hesitates for a moment before he decides, “Yeah, I’ll let Taemin and Jongin know. We were just going to train today anyway.”

They adjust so they’re lying down on the bed, Hongbin draped over Wonshik’s muscular chest, curled up so that he feels small and protected. With Wonshik’s arms around him, there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.

 


	3. The Doublet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I almost didn't have anything finished that I could post today, but I wrote this really quick yesterday and I thought it was cute so hopefully you guys will too.
> 
> **Warnings for this chapter:** some swearing, sexual innuendos
> 
> P.S. _dis rings_ is shorthand for _rings of disengagement_ , which are used to escape from a battle you can't run from. Most high-level fighters have some on them all the time while training/doing invasions/etc. Which honestly I don't know a ton about because I don't really play warriors, but there you go.

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/60055131@N03/35207396274/in/dateposted-public/)

* * *

 

 

Arms wrap around Hongbin’s waist from behind as he’s trying to button his doublet. “Don’t get dressed,” Wonshik whines, and presses a lingering kiss to Hongbin’s neck.

Hongbin snorts. “I have work to do. Big ring order to finish, remember?”

“Nooo,” Wonshik moans, deft fingers starting on the buttons at the bottom of Hongbin’s doublet and making their way up, undoing the work that Hongbin has just finished. “Stay here with me. I’ll buy you anything you want and you’ll never have to work again.”

“And who was it that told Taemin and Jongin that I would give them a good deal on dis rings?” Hongbin asks, batting Wonshik’s hands away and fixing his buttons again. “You did this to yourself, so deal with it.”

Slumping so that his chin on Hongbin’s shoulder seems to be holding up most of his weight, Wonshik says, “I regret this. Tell those assholes that we’re too busy fucking and you can’t do it right now.”

“Nope, can’t do that,” Hongbin says, reaching up to pat Wonshik’s cheek. He straightens his shirt cuffs and picks up his cloak, extracting himself from Wonshik’s embrace to sling it around his shoulders. “We promised we were going to spend more time working and less time at home in bed, remember? Our guildies have barely seen us in weeks.”

Wonshik grunts and leans against the dresser. He’s wearing pants and nothing else, his bare chest gleaming in the golden light of morning coming in their bedroom window. Mortos damn him for being so attractive, anyway.

Hongbin hangs his harvester medallion around his neck and settles his crown of life on top of his mess of flyaway curls, and then wraps his hands around Wonshik’s narrow hips. He gives him a gentle kiss and smiles at the fake pout that Wonshik sports even afterwards. “I love you. I’ll be back later.”

Wonshik huffs, and then says, “You know, you’re unfairly hot in that doublet, but you look even better without it.”

With a groan, Hongbin drops another kiss to Wonshik’s mouth and says, “Stop. Seriously, I bought this thing when I was still mostly a newb, but it just sort of stuck with me.”

“Really?” Wonshik plays with one button, not attempting to undo it this time, the gesture mostly absent. “All my armor from back then broke a long time ago.”

“Guess it’s a lucky doublet then,” Hongbin says. “But really, I remember buying it from Freia and putting it on immediately and I felt so proud of myself at the time, that I had made enough money to afford such a fancy piece of clothing.”

“And now you own all the fancy pieces of clothing, but you still wear this one,” Wonshik observes. He smiles a little. “It means something to you. This was a big accomplishment.”

Hongbin snorts a little. “Maybe at the time. Now I’ve got enough coin to buy it a hundred times over. I wouldn’t have to keep wearing this old piece of shit.”

“You’re right,” Wonshik agrees, nodding sagely. “You could wear nothing at all.” He starts to unbutton the doublet yet again, and Hongbin has to back up hurriedly to avoid being stripped naked.

“You’re terrible,” he tells Wonshik, fixing his clothes and retrieving the pickaxe he’d left leaning against the wall. “I’m going to work. You should get dressed and go do something today, too.”

Wonshik hums thoughtfully and then a wicked smirk blooms across his face. “What if I stay here, though?” he says, his tone conversational. “What if I spend all day touching myself while telling you how good it feels, how much I want it to be your hands on me?” He stalks closer to Hongbin, his eyes dark. “While you’re working, I think I’ll tell you about all the dirty things I want you do to me as soon as you come home.”

Hongbin gulps in air and says, “I hate you.”

“You don’t,” Wonshik insists. He pauses a short distance from Hongbin and waves, smiling brightly. “Have fun at work, Dear. And do hurry home.”

“ _Aluwen protect me_ ,” Hongbin curses, and then he ducks out of the room before Wonshik can convince him to stay.

He hears Wonshik laughing as he flees, and already knows that it’s going to be both the best and worst day of his life. Vias, he loves that man.

 


	4. Rabbits Suck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's barely written anything in a week? It's me. Good thing I was ahead on fic and had this to post today, at least. I'm working on getting other things finished. But just FYI, NaNoWriMo starts in...five days? So I might not post much during November. But I have plans for some holiday fics, so we'll see if those get done in time.
> 
> Anyway, thanks for reading! My betas haven't seen this because they're both busy women, so any mistakes are my own.
> 
>   **Warnings for this chapter:** just a bit of swearing

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/60055131@N03/37917552642/in/dateposted-public/)

* * *

 

 

Hongbin comes home sweaty and disgusting and exhausted and the first thing he sees is Wonshik’s unfairly flawless face.

“Good day at work?” Wonshik asks, smiling the smile that he saves specifically for Hongbin, the one that lights up his entire world and makes everything seem okay again even when nothing is okay. He tugs Hongbin down for a kiss and wrinkles his nose at the smell coming off him. “I take it the answer is no.”

Hongbin groans and sinks down onto a crate that’s conveniently beside him, knocking his head against the wall. “Rabbits,” he says, in explanation.

Wonshik just blinks at him. He was probably off killing ogres or dragons all day, Hongbin thinks bitterly. At least he got to do something _interesting_. “Rabbits?”

“I was killing rabbits. Because I needed four hundred rabbit furs.” He closes his eyes and wills the day to be over, already.

“Um…why?”

“Because I needed four hundred rabbit furs,” Hongbin repeats. He’s so tired. The damn things are so fast. And sure they’re easy to kill once he’s caught them, but he has to fucking catch them first, doesn’t he?

Wonshik sighs and drags over a chair, judging by the sounds of wood scraping over stone. He sits down so that his knees are just barely brushing Hongbin’s and says, “That’s not exactly what I meant. What are you going to do with that many furs?”

Hongbin rolls his head back and forth against the wall a few times, in what might be a headshake on a better day. “None of your business,” he mutters.

Wonshik lets out a little ‘hmph’ noise and starts musing aloud, “The only manu items that use brown rabbit furs are the fur boots and warm fur gloves. It’s not like they’re good for training, at the level you’re at already, and you wouldn’t need that many for a trip to Iscalrith or one of the other cold lands.” He hums thoughtfully, playing it up, clearly having decided that this is a game of some sort. It’s kind of endearing, and Hongbin would be properly affectionate in response if he had any energy right now.

“S’not for manu,” he does say, giving Wonshik a bit of a hint.

“Not for manufacturing…,” Wonshik says, and when Hongbin opens his eyes he’s rubbing his chin, his blue eyes flashing. “There’s only one other thing that I can think of that you might use rabbit furs for, but nah, it can’t be. Jaehwan would never let you live it down.”

“What?” Hongbin asks, feeling a smile finally fight its way to his lips. “You don’t think I could do it?”

“You can’t be.” Wonshik actually looks a little surprised. “I was actually kidding. You’re learning summoning?”

Hongbin shrugs, feeling a little sheepish and silly. “Yeah. Felt like learning something new. And my manu skill is getting pretty good, so I thought…might as well try it out.”

“That’s awesome, Hongbin. Good for you,” Wonshik says, ever the supportive partner. He hesitates though, shifts a little, and then adds, “But uh, you know that you could have started with quests and skipped rabbits entirely, right?”

“What,” Hongbin deadpans. It’s dumb. He’s dumb. “Oh Vias, I can’t believe I forgot there were summoning quests.”

“In your defense you haven’t really…done it before,” Wonshik says, wilting some under Hongbin’s heavy stare.

Hongbin kind of feels like crying. “I spent all day—literally _all day_ —hunting rabbits for this stupid skill. And I could have…done quests instead? I hate everything.”

Wonshik laughs a little, looking nervous. He doesn’t like it when Hongbin starts talking like that. He usually tries to avoid it when he can. “How about this,” Wonshik suggests, “save the furs for when you’re a high enough level for tank rabbits, and tomorrow I’ll go with you and we’ll do the quests together.”

“Yeah, okay,” Hongbin agrees, letting out a shuddering breath and sagging back against the wall. “I can do that. Just spent all day on a fool’s errand, no big deal.”

“At least you had fun?” Wonshik offers, his voice going a little high in that way that means he doesn’t really believe what he’s saying.

But Hongbin laughs. He laughs and laughs and laughs until he feels like he’s either going to be sick or pass out. “Yeah, sure, we’ll go with that,” he says. “I had fun.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://phantomflutist.tumblr.com/) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/PhantomFlutist) for writing updates, spoilers, ranting, and more!


End file.
